Why Is Customer Service In Asia So Terrible?

Peter Pham
, ContributorI write financial newsletters for investors on how to profit in Asia.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

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Why is Customer Service in Asia so Terrible?

In today’s world, every economy dreams of having a strong service sector. It’s the fairytale come true for economies who’ve made it their gold standard.

This highly lucrative and growing sector is ultimately where you want to invest.

Throughout this series we have highlighted how different states’ economies have developed, noting that most Asian nations have pursued Asian Capital Development policies (to one extent or another).

Asia’s manufacturing strength was the topic of our last daily, but who leads in services? We will now outline Asia’s dive into services, making sure to point out who’s ahead of the pack and worth your investment.

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Anyone can hail a taxi (or motorbike!) in Southeast Asia using Grab – Asia’s version of Uber.

Uber may reign as the global king, but in Asia, Grab is close behind. Since its launch in 2012 the Southeast Asian ride-hailing mobile app has over 19 million mobile devices across the region. In October 2016, Fortune declared Uber had 40 million active monthly users. Grab is certainly giving Uber a worthy competition.

Transportation services, like Grab, are growing rapidly in Asia. In 2015, services accounted for at least 30% (Indonesia) to nearly 90% (Hong Kong) of each nations’ GDP in the Asia Pacific. China, Asia’s economic powerhouse is prime example. The country’s service sector grew 8.3% last year alone. At the same time, services produced over half the country’s GDP for the first time in history. (Bloomberg).